Kremlin Declares African Countries ‘Natural Allies’ Against the West
Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the third Russia-Africa summit in Moscow with pledges on grain shipments, medicines and technology, as the Kremlin described African countries as “natural allies” in building a multipolar world.
Nearly two dozen African leaders attended the two-day summit, which opened on Wednesday. Delegations came from 48 African countries, 22 of them led by heads of state. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the two sides were “natural allies in building a multipolar world order.” Opening a Russia-Africa economic forum earlier in the day, Putin said that trend was “irreversible” and that the era in which a narrow bloc of states determined the fate of whole continents was gone.
Putin said Russia was prepared to widen the reach of its agricultural shipments, a pledge made while attacks in the Black Sea linked to the Ukraine war continue to disrupt grain exports from both Russia and Ukraine. He announced plans to localise production of Russian medicines and vaccines in Africa, said the number of African students in Russia had risen 50 per cent since 2020, and offered to share digital technology expertise.
The summit comes as Moscow faces heavy Western sanctions over its Ukraine offensive and provides security assistance to several African governments. Putin’s criticism of Western “neocolonialism” has resonated in the Sahel, where Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have turned from France toward Moscow. Around 20 bilateral meetings were scheduled this week, including one with Mali’s Assimi Goita, whose government uses Russian paramilitaries against a jihadist offensive, and one with Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, who attended amid tensions with Rwanda. The Rwanda-backed M23 movement has seized large areas of eastern Congo since 2021, and fighting has continued despite a US-brokered truce last December. Rwanda was represented by Prime Minister Justin Nsengiyumva.
The Kremlin said 33 documents would be signed, mostly on economic cooperation, along with a final declaration and a separate statement on artificial intelligence. Russia also plans to open a 49th embassy in Liberia.
The summit has been clouded by reports of Africans being forcibly conscripted to fight in Ukraine. Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa have voiced alarm about their citizens’ fate. In an open letter published on Tuesday, Amnesty International urged African leaders at the summit to demand that Russia end the “forced and deceptive recruitment” of Africans. On Wednesday, families in Cameroon marched to the Russian embassy in Yaoundé to demand the return of relatives they say were recruited to fight.
